'Supreme Court decisions not binding on FCC'

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has made it clear that under Article 189 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court decisions are not binding on it.

"Although under Article 189 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court authorities are not binding on this court, we find that this court may consider them to be of persuasive value or obiter dicta which it may or may not choose to follow," said the 11-page judgement authored by Justice K K Agha.

Justice Agha was part of an FCC bench which dismissed the petition of an individual, who was denied the job of a police constable on medical grounds.

The FCC is the constitutional court of Pakistan established through the 27th Constitutional Amendment in November 2025.

The court exercises exclusive jurisdiction in constitutional interpretation and disputes between the federal and provincial governments. Its creation transferred many of the constitutional functions previously exercised by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to a separate specialised body.

The case

The Punjab relevant authorities had declared the applicant medically unfit for failure to meet the prescribed visual acuity standards.

It was observed that under Rule 12.16 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934, read with Standing Order No. 06/2015, medical fitness is a mandatory precondition for recruitment, leaving no discretion to appoint a medically unfit candidate.